Cavs rediscover offense, hold off Eagles on road
BOSTON — Reece Beekman had 18 points and eight assists, and Virginia held off a last-minute rally to defeat Boston College 72-68 Wednesday night.
Quinten Post’s jumper got Boston College within 70-65 with a minute to go. After a Virginia turnover, Mason Madsen hit a layup, was fouled and sank a free throw to make it a two-point game with 29 seconds left.
BC needed to foul and sent Virginia’s Isaac McKneely to the line. He made two free throws for a 72-68 lead.
With 10 seconds left, a held ball was called and Boston College retained possession. Madsen missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left, and Virginia ran out the clock. It was a key victory for a team perceived as on the NCAA Tournament “bubble” by many followers.
McKneely scored 14 points and Jacob Groves had 13 for Virginia (21-8, 12-6 ACC). Ryan Dunn had 13 rebounds.
Post had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Jaeden Zackery scored 12 and Madsen had 10 for Boston College (15-13, 6-11). The Eagles shot 41%, but made only 5 of 22 3-point tries.
A layup by Devin McGlockton drew Boston College within one point with 13½ minutes left in the second half and his dunk on the next possession gave the Eagles their first lead of the game at 40-39. There were five lead changes in the next seven minutes before Virginia went up 57-51 with three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions — two by McKneely and the third by Groves. They both made 3 of 6 3-pointers for the game.
A pullup 3-pointer by former Landstown High star Donald Hand Jr., his only basket of the game, got Boston College within 66-63 with 2 minutes to go, but Beekman made two free throws and Blake Buchanan hit a jumper for the Cavaliers to set the stage for the final minute.
Virginia took an 11-2 lead, but a 3-pointer by Zackery got the Eagles within 15-13 with about 8½ minutes left in the first half. Several minutes later, a layup by Madsen made it 22-21. Virginia did not give up the lead and held a 27-23 edge at halftime.
The Cavaliers reached 50 points for the first time in four games.
Virginia will visit No. 10 Duke at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.